That New Beginning
by a0r123
Summary: It's been 15 years since "Liz" went down the river for rebirth. She is now Abigail Martin. She's just a normal teenager. Until she meets Jacob Stevens. Who she oddly remembers but has never seen before in her life. Can she find out why? R&R PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1

**Heyy guys :)**

**Recently I read Elsewhere for English really loved the book. (I actually finished before anyone else in my class)**

**I had an idea so here it is!**

**(FYI this is longer than you think it is)**

**Read and Review**

**PLEASE!!!**

* * *

One morning, soon after Lizzie's farewell, Owen woke up suddenly and was already a few weeks old. So that day, at dawn, Betty and Curtis brought him down to the river where he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and sent down to earth to be reborn. He awoke in the arms of Mary Stevens, a new single mother living in Connecticut. "Hello little Jacob," She cooed and held him close to her heart.

***

It's been 15 years since "Liz" went down the river for rebirth. "Liz" was now Abigail Martin. Her parents were Kevin and Sue and she lived in Medford, Massachusetts. She had a life like any normal teenager would. She went to school, she had friends, she did her homework, and she had a job. Things were normal, except she would always have this weird feeling that she had always been here. Like in another life or something this town was her home.

Today was like any other day. Abby caught the bus in the morning and boring school started, until the new kid showed up. He was a tall young man with short mahogany curls. He wore those sunglasses that only the cool guys wore. The minute Abby saw him, she instantly recognized him, but she didn't know how.

"Jacob Stevens please take your seat, any spot will do. Alright class…" The sound of the teacher's obnoxious voice faded as Abby gazed at the oddly familiar boy crossing the classroom to sit in the seat next to her.

After staring at him for another minute, while trying to put a finger on how she knew him, Abby finally gave up and started to pay attention to the lesson.

"Hey," He whispered. Abby turned to look at him. He had taken the glasses off and looking at his face, he had deep brown eyes and long dark lashes. "I'm Jacob, and you are…" It was like first grade all over again.

"…Abby" She finished his sentence for him and turned back to the board.

"Abby," He repeated as if locking it into his memory.

Then the bell rang. The orderly class jumbles into a mob and rushes for the exit. Briskly, Abby made her way down the hall and turned left into Geometry. The class finished and she headed for her locker. Once spinning the combination and opening the door to the narrow space the Jacob kid from earlier appeared, leaning against the locker next to hers.

"What do you want?" Abby muttered. She was in a rush and didn't need distractions.

"Have I met you before? You seem vaguely familiar." He thought he sounded insane.

"I don't believe so, but I recognize you a bit too. Where are you from?"

"Connecticut." He said.

"I don't understand how I know you; I've lived here all my life and never seen anybody like you before but its like- oh never mind I got to go." She grabbed her books and ran, disappearing into the crowd.

***

How do I know her? Jake thought to himself. School had ended and he was sitting on the edge of his bed, racking his brain on how he knew this girl, this beautiful girl, Abby. Her image was still in his mind. She had sunny blond hair and seemed to always have some blush on her face when he saw her. The phone rang and he snapped out of his daze.

"Jake! It's for you!" His mother yelled from down the hall. He jumped up and went to answer the phone.

***

Alvin Hall had had a good life. He laughed, he cried, he smiled, he frowned. But the worst part of it all was losing his older sister Lizzie. Even though they had fought most of the time he still loved her. She had gotten hit by a car almost 30 years ago and thinking of her still hurt him so. In the few years after her death he remembered hearing her voice and saying she was okay. He remembered the sweater incident, when he looked in the wrong closet and the Owen person had told him the right one. Alvin wondered how Lizzie was once in a while but the years past and he never heard from her since Zooey's wedding. Alvin had gotten older; he was now in his late thirties. He met his wife, Sara, through college and they had two children together, Max and Elizabeth (Elizabeth was named after his sister). He had out-lived his parents and attended their funeral in late May. He was the only Hall left.

Alvin had gone on a business trip. He said farewell to his wife and kids and boarded the plane for Arizona. During the flight things started to go wrong. "This is your captain speaking; we are experiencing some bad weather so keep on the alert." The intercom silenced.

The plane rocked and Alvin shut his eyes. "Shit!" He muttered.

Moments later disaster struck and the plane crashed killing all of the passengers, Alvin included.

***

Alvin awoke on a strange cot, in a strange room. It smelt of sea water and moth balls. He sat up and hit his head on the ceiling. "Ouch." He said, falling back down onto the bed.

"Good god boy, I thought you were dead!" A voice said from across the room. The voice had a Scottish accent and the closer the voice came the stronger smelling scent there was of cigars.

"Where am I?" Alvin wondered.

"Not sure..." The voice said. The lights turned on, momentarily blinding Alvin. Opening his eyes he saw he was in some sort of boat cabin. He got up and realized he was wearing pure white pajamas.

"Do you want to look around?" The man with the voice asked. The guy had a beard, a scrawny figure, and pale skin.

"What's your name?" Alvin asked him.

"George." The man replied, "So do you wanna explore or not, sonny?" With every breath, George wheezed a bit.

"My name is Alvin, Alvin Hall." Alvin corrected the old man.

"Nice to meet you too, Alvy." George turned and headed for the door with Alvin following him they left the cabin to explore. Once leaving the room they entered a hallway with thousands of doors.

"I wonder where we are, George. I wonder why we're here…" Alvin asked.

"I died in my sleep last night so I guess you're dead too." Alvin came to a halt where he stood.

"I'm dead?" He said in disbelief.

"Well lad, I guess so." George patted him on the back and kept walking down the narrow hallway.

"I'm dead? What about my wife? What about my kids? Do they know I'm dead?" He started to hyperventilate.

"Don't get your britches in a twist, Alvy. They'll be okay." George started to hum a bouncy tune.

"How do you know?" Alvin questioned. But George had already disappeared into a large eating hall. Alvin followed him, keeping a few feet behind. "George! How do we know we're dead? For all you know we could be in a dream or something and you're my conscience!" At that, a few heads turned to look at him. The large room was filled with elderly folks around tables eating bacon and eggs with toast. Alvin's eyes wandered around the place. Above the food station, a grand sign read:

WELCOME DEAD PEOPLE!

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING THE S.S. NILE

AS YOUR TRANSPORTANTION TO ELSEWHERE

Alvin still looked at the sign as he wandered after George. "This must be some sort of joke right? I mean, come on we're on a boat that apparently is going down the Nile River. I must be dreaming!" He had hushed down a bit but people still eyed him. He still was looking over the cheerful welcome. "I mean not that I think any of this is real but, if you're dead, you're dead. Aren't you?" But memories of Lizzie flashed through his mind. "Holy god, so this is where Lizzie went."

"Lizzie? Who's Lizzie?" George asked, finally paying attention to what Alvin was blabbing on about.

"She was my older sister who died in a car crash a really long time ago." He said and sat down next to George who had already filled his plate with everything the ship served.

"I'm sorry to hear about that, lad." George said before stuffing his face with bacon.

"I guess after she died she went to Elsewhere." Alvin thought out loud.

"And that's where we're heading I guess." George said and started gulping down orange juice. After breakfast the two men found the cabin they started in and then there was a knock on the door. Before any one of them got up to answer it, an envelope had been pushed under the door.

"I wonder who that's for," George asked as Alvin stood up to retrieve it. Reading the envelope it read:

Passenger Alvin K. Hall

Formally of Medford, Massachusetts, in

The United States of America

Currently of the S.S. Nile, Cabin 140037,

Top Bunk

Alvin rereads the envelope, and then shows it to George. "Well don't just look at the damn envelope, open it!" He says, apparently annoyed. Alvin rolls his eyes and rips open the envelope. Inside he finds a card and a coin. The coin says ONE ETERNIM on the front. Alvin turns the coin over to the backside and sees the words, CURRENCY OF ELSEWHERE. Putting the coin in his shirt pocket he then takes out the card. Alvin reads it:

Dear Passenger Hall,

Your Presence is requested:

Observation Deck

Binoculars #156

Today

NOW!

"Well this is nice invitation." Alvin mutters. "Do you know where the Observation deck is, George?" He asks.

"Not sure, but if you follow the signs, you should find it." George yawns, "I think I'm going to take a nap." Yawning again, he crawls under the covers on the bottom bunk and instantly starts snoring,

"See you later, George." Alvin says and closes the door behind him. He wandered down the hallways and finally found a sign to the Observation Deck. After climbing three sets of stairs, Alvin reaches a light and airy deck with hundreds of standing binoculars. When finding binocular #156, he takes a seat on the metal stool. Taking the odd coin out of his pocket and shoving it in the slot he presses his face against the ice cold binoculars. At first it was pitch black, then a image popped up. It was at the old church Alvin used to go to. Every pew was filled with people dressed in black. Scanning the scene, Alvin realized it was his funeral.

"I'm really dead." He whispered.

Through the binoculars he saw his wife, Sara, sobbing and Max and Elizabeth in shock. They probably couldn't believe that he was gone. His mother in law was crying next to Sara and you could hear the wheezing, sniffling, and sobs filling the church. The coffin, his coffin, was closed and placed in the front of the church. His good friend, Sam was giving a speech,

"…Everyone who knew Alvin knew he was a great guy. I remember sitting with him at High School Graduation. I remember when we both were accepted to Yale. I remember being his wingman when he first met Sara," Sam's voice started crack a bit from crying, "I remember having the honor to be his best man at his wedding, I was the one who dropped the cake. And today I have the honor of speaking at his funeral. God I miss him." Sam stepped back and left the podium.

Tears started to form in Alvin's eyes when Sara came up to alter. He noticed she still wore her wedding ring; he touched the band that was still on his finger too.

"When I married Alvin Hall thirteen years ago, I knew that I had made the best decision of my life. Alvin was the most caring husband, and father, I have ever known. It pains me when I know that he is gone…" Suddenly, the image of his wife disappeared. He pulled away and kicked the binoculars hard. Peering through the lens again he still couldn't see her.

"Damn!" He muttered, kicking the stand once more.

"Hey! Watch it! Don't kick those binoculars! Just 'cause you're mad at fate doesn't mean you break my equipment!" A woman, a little younger than Alvin, was running towards him. Her short brunette hair was flying behind her and she kept a hold on her trucker cap so it wouldn't blow away. She came to a halt and knelt down to examine the spots where he kicked the binoculars from frustration. "Gosh you kicked this hard. There's a pretty big scratch in this!" She pulled out rag and some black stuff and started to rub at the spots with the scratches.

"Sorry, didn't know." He said sheepishly.

"Sorry?" She stood up, "Hell yeah you're sorry. They told me that I had to make sure that this Observation Deck is spic 'n span throughout this entire trip to Elsewhere and _you_ kicking, and scratching up, this fine piece of equipment isn't making my job any easier. What? You didn't know only one of these eternims only gets you FIVE minutes of what's going on down on earth? Well? Did you?" He's only known this girl five seconds and she's already about to throw punches.

"I'm sorry. I've been dead for only one day now and I just witnessed my own funeral. I kicked your 'equipment' because those five minutes cut off my time to see my wife." He went from being sorry to being annoyed. He then stalked off the deck.

"Wait!" The girl yelled. She caught up to him out of breath. "I'm sorry I didn't know!" Alvin stopped and looked at her more closely. Her short hair was shoulder length and she had taken off the trucker cap. Her hazel eyes were a bit teary from the wind and her chest rose and fell quickly from running. "I'm Nicole." She huffed.

"I'm Alvin." He said and turned to continue down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" She shouted after him.

"Back to my cabin," He said and kept walking.

"It's not really allowed but I'll give you another eternim to see your wife." She said. It sounded to Alvin like a bribe.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Sure." She said. Alvin turned around to Nicole back up the Observation Deck. Nicole brought him to binocular #139. She put the eternim into the machine and Alvin watched his wife again. She had returned to her mother's house and he watched her say goodnight to Max and Elizabeth. But it hurt him the most when he watched her cry herself to sleep. The view faded and disappeared again but Alvin didn't complain. Stepping back from the binoculars he looked at Nicole. He noticed she was wearing a plaid shirt with overalls instead of the usual white pajamas everyone else was wearing. Putting that thought aside he got up and thanked her, then started to leave. But she followed him.

"Alvin? How did you die?" Until that very moment, he couldn't remember what had happened but then he did.

"I died in a plane crash." He shuddered a bit. "How did you die, Nicole?" He asked.

"I died of lung cancer. It was second-hand smoke that killed me. Everyone I knew smoked," She took a deep breath, "My dad, my best friend, my fiancé, I was just always by a smoker and one day it just got to me."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Alvin said. He wanted to change the subject, talking about each other's deaths wasn't the best conversation. "So how did you get a job on the S.S. Nile while everyone else is in pajamas?"

"I was old friends with the captain and he promised me that once we got to Elsewhere I could be in charge of the Observation Decks there too. He was testing me here, seeing that I was up to it. That's why I made a big deal about the scratch before, sorry." She said.

"It's fine. I ended up seeing Sara again through those binoculars anyway." Alvin said.

"The ship should reach Elsewhere tomorrow. So I'll be starting my avocation soon. So, do you know what you'll be doing?" Nicole asks.

"Not sure, what kinds of avocations are there? Well actually what are avocations?" He asked.

"They're kind of like jobs but it has to be something you like."

"So how do you know all this stuff?"

"As I told you before, I'm old friends with the captain. So he told me about most of the things you can do in Elsewhere- "

"There you are Alvy!" George yelled from down the hall in Cabin 140037. He walked out into the hallway to greet him. "I've been lookin' everywhere for ya! Oh! Who's this?" He nodded towards Nicole.

"I'm Nicole." She extended her hand. George grasped her hand and with both of his hands shook it. "Nice to meet you…" Nicole started.

"George, I'm George. I'm Alvy's roommate." George said happily. He turned to Alvin. "You know Alvy; I've been looking all over for ya."

"Yeah George, we better get going." George let go of Nicole's hand and let Alvin lead him back to the cabin.

"So when will I see you again?" Nicole asked Alvin.

"I'll meet you at the Observation Deck before we reach Elsewhere." He said.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." She said winking at him and turned to walk back down the hallway.

Once she was out of hearing range George whispered to Alvin, "You like the little lady, don't 'cha?" But instead of answering, Alvin only rolled his eyes.

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	2. Chapter 2

He awoke yet again not knowing where he was. Death was shock. He assumed it would always be like this. Waking up in a strange place, then it would hit him. The boat's horn blew; they finally reached the port to Elsewhere. Alvin swung his legs over the side of the bed and jumped. The moment his feet hit the floor he started to run.

He slammed the door behind him and he could hear George shouting, "Hey Alvy, where you going?"

But he left him behind and raced for the Observation Decks. He had to find Nicole; otherwise he'd be lost here on this stupid ship. He followed the signs and eventually found the crowded decks. No one was really looking through the binoculars, they were hanging off the side to try and see the "Elsewhere" they'd been waiting for since their funerals. He then saw her and waved, she waved back and smiled. He moved through the mob to get to where Nicole was standing. When he reached her, she gave him a hug.

"Aren't you excited?" She asked.

He gave an awkward grin; he wasn't exactly sure how he felt. He only knew that sea sickness wouldn't be a problem once they reached land.

The horn sounded again, "This is your captain speaking, we have reached Elsewhere and ask that you carefully make you way to the nearest exit and depart from the boat. And here is a warning to all: you MUST leave this boat. Have a nice afterlife!" The intercom silenced and the once crowded deck was now an empty one.

"I need to make rounds to make sure everyone has left." Nicole said, "Wanna come?"

Alvin nodded and followed. They searched the entire first floor of rooms and found a small girl, about six years old. Her name was Meghan Karr; she had suffocated in her sleep. Alvin watched Nicole comfort the girl and hug her and asked her about her family. Alvin and Nicole then lead Meghan to the exit and said goodbye.

"You're very good with kids," Alvin commented after Meghan was gone.

"Thanks. My sister had kids of her own and I baby sit them – well used to – all the time."

"Interesting," They headed for the exit. At first sight you would think it was an ordinary town. With tall buildings and a beach, he saw a lighthouse too.

"That lighthouse is where my avocation is. There are fifty binoculars up there and I'm in charge of them." She said proudly.

"That's some responsibility." He joked.

"Of course!" And she jabbed him in the gut.

They walked from the loading dock into the parking lot where many people gathered. There were smiles on their faces and they were waving their arms about trying to get the new residents' attention. Not only did he see elderly folk, he saw children too. Many of the bystanders were children.

He rubbed his eyes making sure he wasn't hallucinating, "Can I ask you a question, Nicole?"

"What?"

"Why are there so many children here? It's a sad to think that everyone is dying young these days."

"Oh, I forgot that you haven't gone to orientation yet. You see, in Elsewhere instead of growing older, like you do on earth, you become younger. So that when you're only a few days old they send you back to earth as a little infant to be reborn again. It can be told in more complicated terms, but basically that's what happens here." She said.

"Oh, that explains a lot. I have another question, fifteen years ago my sister died in a bike accident, would she still be here?"

"How old was she?" She questioned.

"Fifteen"

"I'm not sure, she might or might not be, you're gonna have to check with someone about that." She paused, "But if she is still here she'd be days away from going back down to earth."

Alvin scanned the crowd once more; he saw an elderly couple with linked arms and with warm smiles on their faces. He squinted at them, "Mom and Dad?" He muttered.

"What?" Nicole asked, unsure of what he had just said.

"I think those are my parents." He said and headed towards them. He waded through the crowd and met them. "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Hall?" He asked professionally but a huge grin spread across his face at the sound of their voices.

"Oh Alvy! What happened? Why are you here?" His mother exclaimed as tears ran down her face. She threw her brittle arms around him.

He looked up at his father who gave him a joyful smile, "Nice to see you, son."

"We are so sorry for not believing you about Lizzie all those long years ago. But we're here now and –"

"Mom, I don't think Liz is here anymore." He mentioned sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Hall but I don't think your daughter is here either." Nicole had spoken up. The couple stared at her, "Oh, I'm sorry; I'm Nicole Jones. I'm a friend of Alvin's." She stretched out her hand to greet them.

"We're sorry for our rudeness; would you like to come have lunch with us?" Alvin's father said as he took Nicole's hand gently.

"I would be delighted! – I mean if it's okay with Alvin." She said.

"I'm okay with it; I'm hungry too. Let's eat!" He acted more excited then he meant to, but it worked and his parents headed for their car.

They drove a 1993 four-passenger BMW. It was a bright white that gleamed in the sunlight. They winded down the relatively empty street. His father pulled into the driveway of a simple two story house. The house was a light blue with white shudders and the front yard was landscaped with well-tended grass and small daisies, which Alvin's mother must have planted. Glancing at a window, Alvin saw a small pug was waiting for them.

"Is that Lucy?" Alvin asked hopefully. His mother nodded. The once old pug was now a small energetic puppy. When the door was open she scurried out onto the lawn and hopped around on her hind legs to try to see everyone.

"She followed us home a few weeks ago, probably remembering our scent. At first we didn't recognize her because of her size." She was right. The once elderly pug had literally shrunk.

Once inside the house, which smelled of warm cinnamon, the group sat down to a meal of sandwiches. He hadn't tasted anything this good in years. Memories came back:

It was mid-June and they had decided to go for a picnic. He remembered the heat which gave every single one of them the annoying sunburn on their shoulders and beads of sweat on their foreheads. He remembered running around the park chasing Liz holding a muddy worm Lucy had found in the grass. Most of all he remembered the food, sandwiches. The only reason they hadn't eaten them in years was because they were Liz's favorite. And anything that could remind my parents so strongly of her, they stopped doing. This had meant no more making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or the special sandwiches.

To anyone else it probably sounded as the stupidest thing on earth, and to many people it was. At the time, Alvin hated how he could never have them for lunch. But when he'd gotten older he realized why. Maybe now since he was gone, Sara and his kids would live without things _he _favored.

"Hey Alvy? Are you okay?" Nicole was waving her hand in front of my face. I blinked a few times and refocused.

"Sorry," I muttered and took a big bite out of the soft bread.

**Sorry I haven't updated in long time. Don't worry there's more to come, but comment please on what's been posted so far! PLEASE!!!**

**This little green button is hungry.**

**Please feed him with your pleasant comments ;)**

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	3. Chapter 3

I had decided to stay at my parents' house for the night. Nicole had left around three o'clock. After she had left I wanted to sleep. Apparently, dying really had an effect on people. In 10 minutes I was sound asleep.

I woke up to the smell of bacon and waffles. I stretched and headed for the kitchen. Each day my parents started to look younger and younger.

"Hunny, you got a call to go for an orientation program today, actually in an hour. So you should hurry it up if you want to make the appointment at 11."

"Sure," I said before taking a sip of orange juice. "Dad, do you have any clothes I could borrow? These pajamas are, you know," My dad smiled and got up to find something for me to wear.

My mother took a seat at the square kitchen table. "So what were my grandchildren up to before the incident?" She asked me.

"They were fine. Lizzie and Max were doing excellent in school. They had great grades and were making lots of friends." It felt weird talking about Max and Lizzie in past tense.

"That's good. You know, Alvin, if you use the binoculars at the lighthouse you can see Sara, Max and Lizzie. You can still be connected with them. I mean not really, like talk to them, but watch how they're doing." She gave me a weak smile.

Dad returned with a pair of worn jeans and a t-shirt. "Hope this fits, bud. If not you can always go out and buy your own clothes."

"Nah, these should do." I got up and headed for the bathroom. The shirt had fit but I needed to wear a belt so the pants wouldn't fall down. Around quarter of eleven I left with my dad to go to the orientation. We pulled up to this lopsided building.

"Good luck, son." My dad told me as I left the car. I gave him a nod and headed for the doors.

I ran up 3 flights of stairs and found the introduction floor.

"Alvin Hall? 11 o'clock appointment?" The clerk asked.

"Yes." I was out of breath from running up stairs.

"Right this way." I followed the clerk into a closet like room with only a chair and an old-fashion television (the ones with the DVD player) "You're going to watch a film. It's about an hour long and please pay attention." She pressed play and left the small room.

"Hello dead person!" The fake happy woman said cheerfully. "Since you are here you've noticed things are different here than things on earth. For example, you become younger instead of growing older. This is all natural in Elsewhere. It's just part of your life," giggles, "or afterlife I should say." I completely zoned out and fell asleep again.

*** 1 hour later ***

"Hello? Wake up sleepyhead!" A voice shouted at me.

I was startled and woke up. "Wait, huh? Where am I?"

"You're dead, silly, and you fell asleep. And by the way, the clerk got pissed when she saw you asleep and kicked you out." I heard a bit of laughing and a car zooming by.

My eyes opened and I saw Nicole. _I never noticed how pretty her eyes looked…_

"Where am I again?" I was completely dazed.

"You're lying on the sidewalk in front of the orientation building. And your head is on my lap." She laughed again.

"Shit." I muttered and sat up suddenly. Our heads clashed.

"Ouch." She said rubbing her forehead. I fell back onto her lap and just laughed. I tried sitting up again and successfully was able to sit next to her on the sidewalk.

"Why are you here though?" I asked her.

"Cause they were either gonna throw into a rose bush, from the 3rd floor, or I was gonna bring you down here myself."

"No I mean, why are you _here_." I said, trying to be more specific.

"Because my appointment is at noon, or was at noon. That clerk wasn't very happy with the idea of me helping you. I don't think she'll let me back in that office."

"That sucks." I said as I rubbed my head again. I stood up and gave her my hand. She took it and stood up too.

"Hey, I'm not expected to be anywhere for another hour. Do you wanna hang out by the lighthouse?"

"Sure." I said. I followed her into the parking lot. She scanned the lot but stopped to look at me.

"I don't have a car, so would you mind walking?" I must have given her a weird look. "Don't worry it's only a mile or so from here to the lighthouse."

"Okay, why not? Dead people need exercise! Don't they?"

She laughed again. "Yeah, Alvin, I guess they do."

***

We finally reached the red and white striped lighthouse. When we got to the door, I had a plan.

"I'll race you up the stairs!" I said.

"You're on!" She said back.

"On the count of three, 1… 2… -hey!"

Nicole was already 10 steps ahead of me. I rolled my eyes and ran after her.

While she ran ahead she would tell me random facts about lighthouses.

"Did you know there are 250 steps to get to the top of this lighthouse?" She shouted down the circular stairs.

"Oh I bet there is!" I shouted back and huffed up 20 more steps. She would go so far ahead that I couldn't see her anymore. I could only hear her voice occasionally echo through the tower.

"You are such a slowpoke! I'm already at the top!"

A half hour later I had finally reached the small office at the top of the lighthouse. Nicole was waiting there with a bottle of water in her hands and a stop watch. The second I saw her she clicked something on it.

"Time!" She said happily.

"How long?" I asked her.

"Oh, I'd say a good hour." She announced.

"What? No!"

"Haha. I'm joking Alvin." She said sarcastically and got up and went back into her office.

I had sweat like a pig and was extremely thirsty.

I snuck up behind her, "Hey Nicole! Wanna a hug?"

"What? No-" But I was already hugging her.

"Ew! You smell like sweat!" She said disgusted as I wrapped her in a huge bear hug. I let her go and she held her nose. "You smell nasty, Alvy." She said.

"I try my best!" I said with pride.

There was a bit of silence.

"Do you think I could see my sister?" I said after a while.

"Sure, Follow me." She got up and led me to a pair of binoculars.

She wasn't looking at me at all. "Are you mad at me?" I asked her. I felt like a little kid all over again.

"No." She said. "But you still smell." She waved her hand in front of her nose and smiled.

"Okay. I thought you were mad at me or something."

I turned toward the binoculars.

"All you have to do is think of her and she'll appear through the lens." It sounded simple enough. She inserted the enterim into the slot and I took a look through the lens.

There was a girl who looked around the same age as Lizzie. She still had blond hair. But when she was called she answered to the name "Abby" or "Abigail" The girl who I was looking at was not my sister at all. Sister didn't exist anymore. But for some reason I still felt somehow connected to her.

The image of the oddly-familiar girl faded. And I pulled away from the binoculars.

"I need to talk to her." I told Nicole.

**Hope you liked this chapter! Please review!!**

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**Please feed him with your delightful comments :)**

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	4. Chapter 4

I lay on my bed doing geometry homework that should already be done. I glanced at my backpack which was filled with papers on assignments due in the week ahead. That's when I saw it. On the paper was the word "Party" _Who could have given me this? _I sighed and reached over to grab it. It read:

Party at Jake Steven's house

The big 16!

This Friday at 8pm

It was more of a flyer than an invitation. He must have snuck it into my backpack or something during homeroom. I looked at my bulletin board, which had a calendar on it. Today was Friday. I realized I hadn't gone to a party in ages. Ever since my dad had left for an out of state job position I had never dared myself to ask my mom if I could go out. I had broken up with John Stewart, my ex-boyfriend, over the summer vacation and really didn't have a social life, well besides being friends with Samantha Collins, my best friend since the 4th grade. I rolled off the bed and landed on the floor.

It must have made a sound because I heard my mom yell up the stairs, "Abby, are you okay?"

"Fine, Mom!" I shouted back and ran into the hallway to find a phone.

I dialed Samantha's house and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" A voice asked.

"Hi, this is Abby Martin; may I please speak to Samantha?" My mother had told me it was proper etiquette to say that, even if I was calling a friend.

"Hold on a minute," I heard some noise in the background.

"Hello?"

"Sam? Its Abby."

"Hey!"

"I was wondering if you were invited to that new guy's party tonight."

"Yea, why?"

"If you're going, I'm assuming you know where his house is."

"Yea he actually lives on my street. I can see people pulling up to his driveway now." I heard something in the background, "Oh look, there's Scarlet,"

Scarlet Scott was the most popular girl in the school. She owned the fanciest house, wore the most expensive clothes and had dated Josh Kirby. Emphasis on "dated" she had broken up with him over the phone from her summer house in Florida. By the time school had started again every single person at our high school knew about their breakup. It was sad really. I mean, she breaks up with him with a phone call and a week later she posts pictures of herself and some guy she met over the summer on . Even though Josh Kirby was jerk, some people, including me, actually felt bad for him when he returned to school. Anyway, she was probably just going to the party to get drunk or do something stupid, like she has done at every party this year and last year. _How I know this, you ask? Well give your best guess on why she's usually absent the next school day after a big party event. _

"So would you want to come with me?" I asked Sam.

"Sure, ask your mom to drive you here and we'll walk over." Her end went dead and I knew she had hung up.

I put down the phone and headed for my closet. As of now, I was wearing my gray sweats with a simple purple tank top. I realized that I had no idea what I was going to wear to his party. Everyone told me I was thin. It's not that I'm anorexic; I just really didn't consider myself thin. I took a deep breath and reached for a pair of black skinny jeans and a fitted blouse that would cling to my sides. I took a shower and got dressed. Glancing at the clock I saw the time, 7:45. I applied little makeup and put large medium sized hoops in my ears. I grabbed my cell phone and went downstairs.

My mother was in the kitchen with Macy, my younger sister, making dinner. When I ran past her to get my coat off the hanger and quickly put in on.

"Abby, where you going?"

"I need a ride to Sam's house. Can you drive me?"

"Yeah just give me a minute." She said and disappeared.

Macy looked at me. She was ten years old. She had short little blond curls that went just past her shoulders along with big brown eyes that could instantly hypnotize you. She was more popular then I was in the elementary school without even trying. She had way more friends and was liked by all of her teachers.

Mom returned back to the kitchen and took her coat and keys off the table. "Let's go Abby," My mom turned to Macy, "Macy, I will be back in a little bit. Remember, don't answer the phone or open the door while I'm gone."

"Yea Mom." She said and headed for her room upstairs.

We ran outside into my mom's Toyota and drove to Sam's house. It was already 8 o'clock but trying to get on time to Jacob Steven's party was not a plan of mine. We pulled up to Samantha's house. The sun had already set and the streetlights lit up her one-story, light blue house. She was waiting by the door and she pulled me inside. She led me to her room and looked at me.

"Take off the coat." She said. I took off the coat I was wearing and I saw her eyes bulge but then she just smiled. "You like this guy." He face was lit up and she was grinning at this point.

"No I don't." I muttered.

"Yes you do." She said. She looked out the window again. "C'mon let's go." She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

She pulled on a coat and ran past her mom's bedroom door, "Mom, we're going out. Be back in two hours."

"Do you have your ph- Oh, hello Abby don't you look nice!" She smiled at me but turned back to Samantha, "Phone?" She said in a stern voice.

"Yes, I do." Sam said as she looked her mother in the eye and then headed for the door.

"Have fun! And be Safe!" Her mother said after us. But we were already outside heading for Jacob's party.

***

Either his parents were not home or they had, somehow, allowed this. Because the minute we walked in you could smell the alcohol. The standard red and white plastic cups were everywhere and the entire house was crowded. We found Jacob in the kitchen talking to some guys from the football team. He cut one guy off mid-sentence and gave me big hello.

"Hey Abby! So glad you could make it!" And he gave me a big bear hug. He had already had a beer or two because I could smell it when he talked to me. "Wanna drink?" He asked me.

"No thanks." I replied and smiled.

"Suit yourself," He said. He paused. "You look stunning!" He said suddenly, and I watched him look me over. His eyes stopped right below my face, my chest, but I ignored it. But I had forgotten how low-cut my top was. Samantha was still beside me and I felt her elbow me in the gut.

"Jake, this is my friend Samantha." Jake took his eyes off me for just a moment to acknowledge Sam but his eyes found me again, even if his vision was blurry from the alcohol he had consumed.

"So you just turned sixteen?" Sam asked.

"Yea. I can start taking driver's Ed in school. I gotta talk to my guidance counselor next week." He took another mouthful of whatever was in his glass and hung his arm over my shoulder. Sam gave a weird look and I quickly gave his arm back.

"Well we just wanted to drop by and wish you a happy birthday, so… Happy Birthday! And we'll see you in school on Monday, okay?" Samantha gave another weird look and so did Jake, but he gave me more of a sad puppy dog look. "Okay! I'll stay!" I said and Jacob gave me another hug. He handed me a glass and before I could ask what it was, I had gulped down the whole thing.

An hour later I was sitting with Jacob on the couch in the living room. We each had cake frosting on our faces and his arm was around me again. Samantha had met up with a guy from another town and they were in the corner making out. Samantha wasn't always the "good girl" she had more of a social life than I did and actually had more than one friend. She was attractive, unlike me, with long brown hair and an hour-glass figure that could look good in anything. She had wore an extremely short, strapless dress to this party and for a few minutes I just stared at the guy's hand on her bare thigh. I looked at Jake. After 45 minutes of just staring at my chest he finally decided to stop drinking and sit next to me. A plain white cake had appeared on the dining room table a half hour ago and everyone had sung him Happy Birthday. Even though I was half drunk I was thinking about how familiar he was to me. I had never met him before in my life, I mean he was from Connecticut and had just moved here a few weeks ago but some weird gut instinct had told me I knew him. With that in mind, I said his name.

"Jake," I said in his ear.

"What?" His eyes boggled a bit when he looked at me. But I was lost in those eyes and didn't say anything. "You have frosting on your lip," He said. I started to reach for my mouth to wipe it off but he stopped me by grabbing my wrist. "No, let me get it," And he leaned in closer to me. I could smell his breath and I bet he could smell mine but he came closer anyway. His mouth was only inches from mine and in seconds I felt his soft lips. I hadn't realized it at first, but he was kissing me. I don't know for how long, but my arms were locked around the back of his neck. One of his hands were at my waist pulling me closer while the other hand was at my thigh. Our tongues were tangled for a pretty long time before I pulled back and just gave him this puzzled look.

"Shh," He whispered in my ear. He sat up and took my hand. We walked past Samantha and her new friend walked towards a hallway. It probably led to his bedroom. I started shaking my head.

"No Jake, I can't." I said and started walking in the other direction. He stopped leading me away from the party.

"Oh, ok." He acted disappointed. But I was not losing my virginity tonight.

I got on my tip toes and whispered in his ear, "I'm a virgin."

He whispered back, "Me too."

I was confused. But Samantha had left her kissing partner to find me with Jake in the hallway. She had only had one drink, I was correct, so she was still able to make sense.

"Abby, it's almost ten. Your mom's gonna get worried." She said to me.

I looked up at Jake. "Sorry, I gotta go. See ya on Monday, though." Samantha took my arm and led me toward the door. She took our coats off the couch and headed for the door.

Once we were outside I started laughing. "That was the best night of my life!" I squealed. But then I puked all over the sidewalk. "But I'm wasted." I pointed out.

"Your mom's gonna freak." Samantha said to me.

"Can I sleepover?" I asked her.

"Sure, but wipe the puke off your face before you use the house phone." Samantha reached up and grabbed her nose. "How many drinks did you have?"

"I really don't know but I might have a hangover in the morning."

**Some people wanted more about Jake and Abby so I hope you guys liked this chapter!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was Monday, and things were very weird.

It started during homeroom when he came up behind me, sliding his hand around my waist which sent chills up my spine. We walked into the crowded classroom and I held my breath and watched the eyes stop and stare. Samantha was waiting for me already and gave me a what-the-hell-is-going-on look. She slid off the top of her desk into her chair and stared, like all the others. Jacob led me to seats by a window. For some reason his face was formed into an unchanging grin. He was delighted, even though I hadn't slept with him Friday night. The teacher walked in and his hand fell from my waist, even more chills, and was placed on the desk in front of him, and next to his notebook. Attendance was taken and the bell rang. Students scrambled out of their seats and I was forced into the crowd heading for the door. I found Samantha by my locker,

"Why didn't you tell me you're going out with Jake?" I knew she was mad but her voice didn't even show it.

"I actually didn't know either." I opened my locker door and grabbed a binder for Geometry.

"Okay, yeah right, you make out with a guy at a major party and basically the next day you show up with guy's hand at your waist and you're not dating him? That is insanity! Crazy talk!" She was almost yelling at this point.

"Will you keep it down? This is a public place you know," I slammed my locker door shut and started to walk down the hall, but she followed.

Her voice was a whisper, "You would have slept with him if we hadn't had to leave Friday night,"

"Oh no, I was not going to sleep with him! _That_ is crazy talk." I started to walk faster.

"You were still heading towards his room, and whoever was at that party definitely could make assumptions." She was standing in front of me, now blocking my way.

"What's the big deal anyway?"

I then heard a voice shouting, "Abby! Abby wait up!" I turned to see Jake running towards me.

He appeared beside me and yet again I felt his warm hand slide around my waist. "Hey, I wanted to tell you I'm taking driver Ed this semester."

"That's great!" Samantha said, "Good luck! Well I gotta go, but see you later!" She gave me a look, then turned and left, disappearing into the crowd.

Jacob looked down at me and smiled, "Isn't this great?" He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead.

The bell rang,

"Sorry Jake, I'm gonna be late for math. I guess I'll see you at lunch." I said.

"Oh ok, see ya." He waved and we headed our separate ways.

I couldn't think straight at all for the rest of the day. It was almost like some weird voodoo magic. Suddenly this amazing guy, who still feels oddly familiar, shows in my life and loves me. Who would have thought anything like this could happen, I know I couldn't. This was unbelievable, which is why I think this is some sort of dream because stuff like this doesn't happen in real life.

He reappeared by my locker three periods later. It was like one of those movies where you close the locker door and the guy is there leaning against the wall. He pushed off the wall and stood in front of me, only a few inches kept us apart. Next thing I knew my back was against the door and his was kissing me full on the lips. One of his hands was placed on wall beside my head and the other was pulling at my waist. I felt weird kissing him. I'd known him for about a week and I already was entwined in the realm of PDA. _Exactly the place I wanna be_. I thought sarcastically to myself as I stood there and let him kiss me.

He pulled back and looked at me. I was pushed right up against him and both of his hands were clutching my waist. I stared back at his eyes, a milk chocolate brown, and his long lashes.

"We still have all lunch period, wanna go get coffee or something?" He said. I looked at a nearby clock, we had a half hour.

"Sure." I said. He took my hand and headed outside towards the parking lot.

***

We had walked for 10 minutes already and close to the coffee shop, which was Starbucks. From afar it did look like Jake and I were a couple. We held hands the entire way, and once we got there; he let me sit on his lap even with the amount of seats available. We shared a muffin, because he forgot his wallet and I would only pay for one thing, but yes, we looked like a couple. I asked him on the way back to the school,

"So we're dating, right?" I watched him slurping the rest of his mocha cappuccino. He stopped slurping and wound his arm around my waist again. He definately did not know the meaning of personal space. Anytime we were together his hand was gripping my waist or he would kiss me on the forehead, just becuase he could.

"If you want us to be, then yes, I guess we are." He pulled me closer to his side and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. _See what I mean?_

"So then you have to make it official." I made it sound like a rule to a game.

He stopped walking and looked at me. "Ms. Abigail Martin, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

I laughed a bit, "Yes, I do," He smiled. "And do you, Mr. Jacob Stevens, want to be my boyfriend?"

He started to joke, "Aw man, I'm gonna have to think hard about this," I gave him a look. "Yes, I do." And he kissed me on the lips.

***

I waved goodbye to Jake after the final bell rang and headed for the buses. Samantha ran to meet me by the front steps,

"So, how was lunch?" She sounded extremely eager to know.

"We went for coffee and we are now offical." I tried to sound as casual as possible but Sam could see right through me.

"That's awesome," Her voice trailed off as she waved to someone across the parking lot, "You know that guy I met at the party?"

"Yea,"

"Well he texted me last period and he wondered if I wanted to go out with him."

"Then go!" I said. I heard bus engines starting and I picked up my pace leaving Samantha behind.

I ran up the narrow steps and waded through the rows of seats as the bus grunted and pulled away from the school.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well here's another chapter. **

**I realized after re-reading the last chapter, Jake is waaayyy to touchy/feely or whatever so I won't put so much PDA in this next chapter…**

**But please comment :D**

Jake's POV

_How the hell did this happen?_

I asked myself this after she left Friday night. I let go of her hand and watched her pull away from me. Damn I'm stupid. I'm rushing into a relationship, which is never good. I lay back on my bed now and stared up at the white, blank, bare ceiling. "I'm so _stupid_." I said to no one in particular. I sighed. I heard footsteps from the hallway pause then in moments my mom appeared in the doorway,

"You're not stupid, Jacob." She said and leaned against the door frame.

I propped myself on my shoulders and looked at her. "Mom, I messed up badly on Friday and today." I told her and moaned in frustration.

"It cannot be that bad, I mean you're alive now." She chuckled briefly.

I sat up, "It's about a girl." I muttered.

"Oh," She came into my room and sat down beside me.

"You're a girl," She gave me this look. "Well, you know how they think and stuff."

"Don't rush into relationships, they get ugly," She smoothed my hair with her hand, "Just think about your father and me. We weren't really even married before I told him I was pregnant with you. We took things way too fast and he left me right before you were born. Actually I was driven to the hospital by Jaime and Kathy, and your dad was already on his way to Utah." She was grooming my head at this point.

I pushed her hand away. "I'd never go _that_ fast." I said and stood up.

"You better not." She stood and brushed past me towards the door. But her head then reappeared, "I want to see these boxes emptied and their contents put away when I get back from my meeting." She warned before disappearing down the hallway.

"Yea, yea," I muttered.

"Jake I'm not kidding!" She shouted for a distance.

"Fine," And reached down to pick the first box of many.

It had been only a few weeks in our new house. The house still had that "new house" smell, and we didn't always know where to put things. In my room, upstairs, I had blank walls and brown boxes everywhere. My furniture had been moved in, but to me it looked like I didn't live here. My old room was more like me. I had dull orange walls and all my old sport trophies on shelves. Pictures of friends, family, and previous girlfriends were tucked in every nook and cranny. It was funny how I was all about relations and families when my family was all broken apart. My dad had left before I was born so I grew up with no real father figure. Mom's boyfriends came and went, but never stayed very long. My mom is young and beautiful but once the boyfriend met me, the hormonal teenage son, they either couldn't try to handle it or just decided not to deal with me and broke up with her. My mom's best boyfriend had to Tom Gladen. He dated my mom back when I was eleven. I remember this one summer evening after dinner when he brought over a baseball and two gloves and taught me how to play. It was just a simple game of catch, but to my mom it meant everything. Back then, we lived in Delaware at the time and Tom was the owner of a local car dealership. He had been previously married but his wife received custody of his two kids. I met them once, at one of my baseball games, but vaguely remember their names. Tom was a great guy, he even proposed to my mom, although she said no. She never told me why she declined his proposal. I liked Tom; she liked Tom, why didn't she marry him? Tom hung around for awhile. Our connection with him lasted for a few years, but then we moved to Connecticut when I was thirteen and left him behind. I remember the one time he took us bowling with his kids. It was awkward. I sat there on the bench and watched him, and wondered what had gone wrong. He was such a nice guy, so good to his kids, and loved my mom. I still don't get why she turned him down.

Mom's boyfriends weren't always as nice as Tom Gladen. Once we moved to Connecticut, Gill Leaden was boyfriend number four. My mom and I were eating out at this grill by the beach and Gill was a waiter there. The deep tan and dark eyes caught her attention. He watched us from afar. Finally, he came up to her and gave her his number. One week later he took her to drive in. She arrived home with wrinkled clothes, smudged makeup, and ruffled hair. I was still thirteen at the time so I didn't quite understand what happened, but after a few late night visits from Gill, she broke up with him. The only reason I remember Gill Leaden so much was because he dated my mom around my birthday. I remember he gave me a Mr. Potato head game with a 5+ age rating.

Back in Connecticut, I had lots of friends. I had a big house right by the water in Shorehaven. My friends and I would drive down to the Calf Pasture Beach for all the Fourth of July parties and picnics. I dated one of the hottest girls in the entire grade, Shelby Davidson. She was a tall blonde with an attitude who loved to wear my sunglasses. Shelby loved to take pictures, so she came over with a bag of thumbtacks and her most recent package of pictures and would spend hours pinning them up on my walls. I remember her well. She was my first real girlfriend. She was the best kisser too. I realize I miss all those late nights sitting on the roof with a bag of popcorn and taste of her strawberry lip gloss in my mouth. Even though I spent the shortest amount of time in Connecticut, I miss it the most.

I finished tacking up the last of Shelby's pictures. I saw Emily Greene and Shelby sitting on the beach, Scott Kelly and me at the skate park, Jennifer Kraft and Scott sitting on a bench by Calf Pasture Beach and finally me and my mom sitting on the porch of our old house. My arm was around her and the sun was bright behind us. I took a deep breath and moved onto the next box. I pulled out my martial arts, baseball, and basketball trophies and arranged them on top of my dresser next to my lamp and baseball glove.

I finished unpacking the pictures and went downstairs to watch TV. After watching Stargate Universe for an hour, I decided to finish looking through my stuff. I leafed through old band posters and dozens of Beatles CDs. Around six o'clock my mom walked in using her cell phone,

"…Oh, okay. Yes, I'll definitely come… a date? Sure, why not? Okay, see you then, George. Bye now." She shut the phone and placed it on the kitchen counter.

"Jake! Is that room clean?" She asked me.

"Yup," I lifted myself off the bottom step and walked towards her.

"Good, I'll check it later, what did you want for dinner? I have three week old frozen pizza in the freezer, or we can order out."

"I'll call out,"

"Great, that will be great." She removed the clips from her hair combed through it.

"And I'm gonna make a quick stop at the hardware store."

"Why?"

"I wanna paint my room. White walls are pretty boring."

"Okay, but no painting tonight." She slid her feet out of her heels and studied the packet in front of her.

"That's from the meeting?"

"Yes, I have only a grasp on this subject so I'll be meeting with someone on Thursday."

"George?"

"That man couldn't take his eyes off of me," She sputtered, annoyance was heard in her voice.

"Well at least he's kind enough to help you,"

"Jacob, he's a man with a master's degree, I am thrilled to have his assistance." Pathetically, she kicked her shoes towards the steps.

"But, a date?" I went over to the refrigerator and took out a Dr Pepper.

She gave me a look, "Did I mention he couldn't take his eyes off of me and he's middle aged man? And please, Jacob, no soda tonight." She sighed and started to walk up the stairs.

I put the soda back into the refrigerator and picked up the phone.

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Ring_

"Domino's Pizza, how may I help you?" A familiar voice said enthusiastically.

"Hi, I'll have a medium pepperoni pie."

"Anything else?" the voice said.

"Nope,"

"Name?"

"Jacob"

"Jacob who?" I rolled my eyes.

"Why?"

"Stevens?"

"Who are you?" I said angrily.

There was a pause, "Your order will take 15 minutes, thank you, Sir, for ordering from Domino's." The voice muttered and then the line went dead.

"Weird." I muttered and grabbed my sneakers and my mom's keys.

"I'm taking your car," I shouted up the stairs.

"Jacob if you get pulled over, I will personally kill you," She paused, "Please, be careful." She shouted back.

"Yes, mom."

I spun the keys around my finger and headed from the door.

The ride was quiet as I watched the sun set behind the trees. I pulled up in front of Domino's and stepped out of the car. A cool breeze hit me as I walked up to the glass door. I walked to the counter and waited for an employee to notice I was there. I looked past the counter and saw my order sitting on top of the oven. Finally a person behind the counter turned. It was a familiar face, but with the bright red, white, and blue visor a face I couldn't completely recognize.

"Jake?" But the voice hit me.

"Hey Abby," _She's my girlfriend, stupid._

I saw her smile and blush, but then it hit me.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, you answered the phone and… Shit!"

"It's fine," She laughed. She turned around and picked up the pizza box. "I'm assuming this is yours." She handed it to me.

"Thanks, I definitely owe you."

"For not knowing I work here? Not really, don't worry about it."

"So, what time does your shift end?" I asked as I put the money on the counter.

"In a half hour, but you can go. I'll see you in school." She gave me a smile and handed back the change.

"Whatever you want," I told her before going outside.

The jingle of the bells clashed when the door shut behind me, but then I heard them again,

"Wait!"

I turned to see Abby coming towards me. She had her visor in her hands.

"Please hold on one second."

"Whatever you want." I smiled a bit because I knew what was coming. She was a foot away from me at this point.

"What if I want this," And she reached up to touch the side of my face. She stood on her tip toes and kissed me.

**Ok so a bit of PDA but please REVIEW!**


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